Want to Save the World?

Conservation X Labs - Make for the Planet

Thank you & congratulations to the many hackers, coders, makers, engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, creative thinkers and tinkerers, who celebrated Earth Day weekend 2017 by creating solutions to challenging conservation problems in front of a global audience!

Multidisciplinary teams competed in an on-site event called Make for the Planet over three days of the Smithsonian Institution's Earth Optimism Summit in Washington, D.C. (April 21-23, 2017).

MAKE FOR THE PLANET WASHINGTON D.C., 2017

#Make4thePlanet

Hackers, coders, makers, engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, creative thinkers and tinkerers, celebrated Earth Day weekend 2017 by creating solutions to challenging conservation problems in front of a global audience! Multidisciplinary teams competed in an on-site event called Make for the Planet over three days of the Smithsonian Institution's Earth Optimism Summit in Washington, D.C. (April 21-23, 2017). Teams had access to a pop-up maker's space with equipment to create prototypes and models of hardware and/or software solutions to specific conservation problem.

What: Make for the Planet is a team competition/hackathon to create hardware and/or software solutions to specific conservation challenges. Teams worked to solve global conservation challenges through creative and transformative solutions that harness emerging science and technology, entrepreneurship, and design.

How: Conservation X Labs provided conservation challenges two weeks before the event and global conservation experts pitched the problems on the first day of the Earth Optimism Summit to kick-off the event. Teams had until the morning of April 23rd to create solutions for display in a science-fair setting for viewing by judges, the public, and other Smithsonian Earth Optimism attendees. Solutions were presented as a physical or digital representation and more than a written explanation or pitch. Teams created solutions for one of the proposed conservation challenges using the equipment provided on-site over rather than bringing a pre-baked solution.

Who: The first Make for the Planet event in 2017 hosted 16 multidisciplinary teams. There were no restrictions on age, occupation, education, or gender.